Neiman Marcus's Secret Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I was around 13 or 14 years old when a friend forwarded me an email containing Neiman Marcus's TOP SECRET Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. The woman who wrote the original email said something about how she paid a Neiman Marcus employee $500 to copy down the secret recipe and wanted to encourage recipients to share the recipe with as many people as possible. We may never know whether there was any truth to the woman's story or if it was a PR ploy by Neiman Marcus but what I do know is that there is something special about these cookies.

How do I know they're so special? Well for one, they actually played integral role in a beautiful marriage between a close family friend and a woman he courted (I gave him these cookies to leave on her doorstep which led to their second date!) In college, my GPA improved when I gave these cookies to a professor who was known to bump B's to A's if given a sweet incentive. Universally these cookies are known to cause the most unpleasant people to be happy - just pop these in the oven and watch those attitudes turn around.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 cups butter

• 4 cups flour

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 2 cups sugar

• 5 cups blended oatmeal

• 24 ounces chocolate chips

• 2 cups packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 (8 ounce) Hershey Bars (grated)

• 4 large eggs

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Directions:

1. Measure oatmeal and lend in a blender to a fine powder.

2. Cream the butter and both sugars. Note: The consistency of the butter is the TRUE secret to this recipe. Make sure the butter is slightly cooler than room temperature, if it's too melted these cookies will NOT turn out.

3. Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey Bar and nuts. 

4. Roll into 1 inch balls and place 2-inches apart on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 or until golden.

Now its your turn to whip up a batch of these cookies and watch them work their magic in your life!